Barria leads San Francisco to State Women's Badminton title over Pasadena, 12-7

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PASADENA - "We wanted to bring the title back to the Bay," said City College of San Francisco #1 player Kelly Yau Barria after her dominating singles play helped accomplish that feat as the Rams won their first 3C2A Women's Badminton State Championship match in 14 years, defeating host Pasadena City College, 12-7, on Thursday evening.

In the 3-hour contest, CCSF (13-0) won the battle of the unbeatens over PCC (12-1) in the first final that reached the fourth round of play since a rule change to end the team final once a team reaches the magic 11-point total was instituted in 2019. 

The Rams other state title also was captured at PCC's Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium, 11-10, in a dramatic 2010 final.  

PCC's sixth state final appearance in the last seven championships was a a valiant one as #5 player My Linh Ly rallied from a set down to win her match in three sets over CCSF's #5 Yuchu Huang, 17-21, 21-18, 21-11. That closed the gap to 10-7 and forced a second round of doubles, the fourth round overall.

In the #1 doubles final, Barria and her partner Jacqueline Leong jumped out to an 11-6 lead only to see the PCC top doubles squad of Rhea Zou and Ahn Vu Nguyen Tran cut it to 13-12. Barria-Leong pulled away for the 21-16 first-set triumph. In the second set, long rallies continued throughout with a great return point by Barria giving CCSF the lead at 15-14. From that point, the Rams pair ran off the final seven points over for the sweep (21-16, 21-14) and the title-clinching two points.

Barria routed #2 Tran in the first round of singles, 21-10, 21-10, then wiped out the Lancers #1 Zou, 21-5, 21-5 in the second round of singles. She accounted for half of the team points overall in also teaming with Leong in winning against Pasadena's #2 doubles, Uyen Banh and Janet Diec, 21-15, 21-14. 

"Kelly is such a fighter and competitor," said CCSF head coach Tiffany Mariano. "We all just fed off her energy in the final. We had to move some of our ladder around as our #4 player Kayla Man was unable to play singles, but everyone stepped up. To go undefeated to win the Coast Conference title and then come here and beat another undefeated team, I'm just so proud of our players to be able to take home that state trophy."

On the final doubles match, Barria said, "We definitely knew it would not be easy against their #1 team. There was a point where I felt a little nervous in that second set, but we told each other to continue to have trust in each other and just take it point by point."

San Francisco led 4-2 after round 1 and 7-4 after the first doubles round. Key wins were secured by Isabella Li, who won her two singles matches at the #4 spot, and a pivotal win by #2 Caroline Nguyen over PCC's Zou, 21-14, 22-20, in the first round.

PCC head coach Jennifer Ho knew her team would be up against it going into the final, but was pleased with her team's efforts. 

"To get seven points was a huge effort by us," Ho said. "We had our chances but there was no question that Barria was the big difference. We showed a lot of heart and I am so pleased that we pushed San Francisco into the final round."

It was the North Region's fourth straight state title while PCC is the last team to win it from the South back in 2018. 

In a bit of irony in 2011, Mariano was a student-athlete that helped CCSF's women's basketball team advance to the state women's final, a loss to Santa Rosa. Thirteen years later, she got to taste victory as a Rams head coach in badminton.

Kelly Yau Barria (left) was a big factor in CCSF's state title win

BOX SCORE

CC SAN FRANCISCO 12, PASADENA CC 7

SINGLES, ROUND 1
#1 Kelly Yau Barria (SF) d. #2 Anh Vu Nguyen Tran (PCC), 21-10, 21-10
#2 Carolyn Nguyen (SF) d. #1 Rhea Zou (PCC), 21-14, 22-20
#4 Uyen Banh (PCC) d. #3 Jacqueline Leong (SF), 12-21, 21-12, 24-22
#4 Isabella Li (SF) d. #3 Janet Diec (PCC), 21-14, 21-11
#5 My Linh Ly (PCC) d. #6 Zoe Tao (SF), 21-11, 21-6
#5 Yuchu Huang (SF) d. #6 Sophie Chao (PCC), 21-9, 23-21
DOUBLES. ROUND 1
#1 Zou-Tran (PCC) d. #2 Nguyen-Huang (SF), 21-12, 21-4
#1 Barria-Leong (SF) d. #2 Banh-Diec, 21-15, 21-14
#3 Li-Kayla Man (SF) d. #3 Ly-Chao, 19-21, 21-17, 21-15
SINGLES, ROUND 2
Barria (SF) d. Zou (PCC), 21-5, 21-5
Tran (PCC) d. Nguyen (SF), 23-21, 21-19
Leong (SF) d Diec (PCC), 21-9, 21-8
Li (SF) d. Banh (PCC), 22-20, 19-21, 21-15
Ly (PCC) v. Huang (SF), 17-21, 21-18, 21-11
Chao (PCC) d. Tao (SF), 21-8, 21-23
DOUBLES, ROUND 2
Barria-Leong d. Zou-Tran, 21-16, 21-14

Release by Robert Lewis, for 3C2A